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Man City´s Foden ready for England, insists Guardiola

Pep Guardiola insists Phil Foden is ready to play for England and says the teenager will get plenty of game time for Manchester City this season.

The midfielder is one of the Premier League's rising stars and made his debut for City last November in a Champions League match with Feyenoord.

Given the level of competition for places in Guardiola's squad, it is perhaps not all that surprising that Foden has been limited to just a handful of top-flight outings so far.

But Guardiola sees a role for the 18-year-old, who could be offered the chance to play his way into international contention.

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has underlined the need for creative players in his side and Guardiola was asked if he felt any pressure to expedite Foden's development at the Etihad Stadium.

"No, no, I don't feel the pressure about that," he replied. "I feel the pressure to win the games. We do our best, I do my best.

"I think Phil is ready [for England]. If he wasn't ready [for City], he wouldn't be here. He's ready and after − it's the same case with Leroy [Sane] − he can compete with David [Silva], with Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan], with Kevin [De Bruyne] when he's fit, with Dinho [Fernandinho], with the top players.

"If you see the big 10-20 clubs in Europe in all the competitions, you don't see many people playing who are 18-19 years old, maybe one, two, three… but not too many.

"He's special, his work ethic is excellent, he will have a lot of minutes this season and after that Gareth has his own decision."